Akyuu's Day off
by Mephiles666
Summary: To deal with built up stress, Akyuu takes a day off. What's the worst that can happen? A Danmakuverse story.
1. Akyuu - Prologue

ZUN owns Touhou.

Proofreading done by WillieG.R (owner of Minako), Captain Vulcan (DV author and owner of Iga, and I think Miki and Tate), Kaiser Dude and Achariyth1 (DV author).

* * *

**Chapter 1**

"...Lord Hieda..."

I perked my head up when I heard my family's name called, but then I recognized that the man who had said my name was speaking to my father. I should have known.

To be honest, I was not paying attention to the discussion. I was sleep deprived and it already felt like this meeting has been going for like seven months. Due to protocol, I wasn't allowed to plant my face to the table. And sleeping while sitting up with my eyes open, while possible, was not easy for me.

"And that is why I believe that the youkai are becoming increasingly resentful of the spellcard system," said the mayor. "This is why I believe that we need to better prepare the town guard and anyone who ventures outside the village's limits."

"The Magicians, Were-Youkai, Rokurokubi and those elitist races of the mountain aside, I can agree with you," said my father. "There was a fight in the middle of the village the other day involving a racist one-eyed youkai and a Kappa. The former caused injury to a bystander because he refused to fight using a spellcard. He was sealed away, yes, but the cost of property repair and medical treatment wasn't exactly cheap."

Normally, such meetings would never happen. Why? Because I could be doing important stuff like recording Gensokyo's history or, better yet, living my life the way I want to! Hell, I'd rather be reading that book series about humans having poorly depicted sex with sparkling vampires that Kosuzu wrote than be here, and that's saying something. I would be the president of the hate club if my duties as the Ninth Maiden of Are didn't get in the way.

"No, those mountain bastards are up to something," Yumetsugu accused. "They took a picture of my daughter naked and put it in their newspaper!"

If I recalled correctly, there were multiple newspaper companies on the mountain. That said, you shouldn't generalize an entire culture because of something one small group of one specific mountain race did.

"No one's paying attention to your daughter. Everyone's too busy looking at the shrine maiden." The discussions the meeting had were silly at best.

"That's why we need more human magicians in the village, to ensure protection against the monsters who may decide to turn on us!" said Yumeta.

"Agreed, we need to push for an education that incorporates magic besides the bare basics," said Yumetsugu.

"A family's secret arts are their secrets to keep. Besides, we have powerful humans and were-youkai living here who are capable of dealing with such threats," the mayor said.

"They can't be trusted," Yumetsugu said. "If they're not inconvenienced in the slightest, they won't do anything unless they're being paid!"

"You're only saying that because the history teacher did not return your feelings for her," the mayor said. Just to convey how stupid I think all of the bickering beforehand was, I wanted to stand up and shout "Remember the Vampire Incident!" Yeah, I'll say it RIGHT NOW!

My body didn't move. Akyuu, you coward.

"Well I think we all agree that we need to strengthen the watch guard regardless with the increase in theft," said Yumeta. Of course he would say that with how his meat shop was robbed not long ago.

"Agreed," the other three men said in unison. Well, maybe not in unison, but I was tired enough to have thought that.

"Akyuu, you look like you have something important to say," my father said to me. "What is on your mind?"

"It is nothing," I answered with a sigh. I refused to contribute to the time spent on this sham.

...

"Akyuu, it's time to wake up," a familiar voice said. I reluctantly opened my eyes and saw a woman whose wavy light-brown hair reached her shoulders. Under her apron was a white kimono that had a picture of me sewn to the left breast, and she stared at me with brown eyes.

"Please, one more hour, Minako," I said as I closed my eyes and buried my head back into my pillow.

"Long day, yesterday?" she asked. "It'll get better, I promise."

"Better? How much better?" I lifted my head from my pillow, but I did not look at her. "I need to research and write, but due to various complications, I'm expected to adhere to society's expectations as all nobles do."

While harsh when necessary, Minako wasn't as absent and apathetic to my feelings as the other maidservants. What exactly was it I heard from Himeko the strict maidservant yesterday? 'Mistress, it is time to go to the meeting.' 'Mistress, it is time for you to write.' 'Mistress, it is time that you stop reading those books you like.' Hah, the joke was on that woman, NOBODY in their right mind liked Kosuzu Motoori's _Moonlight_. Although the mental image of the werewolf in his human form wasn't bad. Unfortunately, the closest thing to Kouta Koizumi in real life was Kagerou Imaizumi.

I could hear a third person entering my room, probably that stricter maidservant. "Mistress, it is time you took a vacation."

Wait, what? I heard the Himeko's voice, but I was certain she just said something she'd never say.

I looked over to see both maidservants. "Can you repeat yourself?"

"I've noticed that you've been stressed of late and I was thinking that you needed a day off. Perhaps the new hot-springs are just what you need. We all could use some winding down." Himeko turned to Minako. "Don't you agree, Minako?"

"Hot springs? I would love to come," Minako answered with a brighter smile.

"I would love to go too," said Nagisa, another servant, as she walked in. "Up, Lady Akyuu; you want to have fun too, right?"

"Of course I do," I said. "But what about today's work schedule?"

"We've been making it a point to do enough before today so that we'd have a whole day free. Besides, all you have planned today is more research and writing. Someone is bound to try adding more work for you today."

"Point made," I said as I got out of bed.

"If we're going to linger among the populace, we'll need to dress as plain as possible so we don't draw unwanted attention," Minako pointed out.

"True," Himeko agreed. "But we can't leave looking like slobs. What if one of us meets a real hunk?"

"Oh, like that Tate guy?" Nagisa asked. "I would love for someone like that to sweep me off my feet."

Tate, I remembered him from that night I spent with Iga. He was the tall and broad member of Miki's circle of friends. Did my maidservant know what sort of man he was involved with?

"It's alright, a lot of men look past what a woman's wearing, whether they're distracted by an exposed thigh or using their imagination," Minako said as she lifted up one of my cheaper pairs of clothing and handed it to the second maidservant.

"Minako," Himeko spoke up, "Men aren't the only reason we should dress up."

"I-...Wait, what?"

"Does this one suit your taste, Lady Akyuu?" Nagisa asked me. The dress was black, designed to expose my shoulders and everything below the middle of my thighs, and had a neckline so low that you would see the top of my breasts if I wore it. In short, it was the sort of clothing I would wear if I was trying to seduce a man.

"No," I told her.

"Oh right! We need to go make the arrangements for the trip," Minako said, leaving the room with Himeko.

"Mmhmm," Nagisa replied as she went to grab another set of clothes.

Something felt wrong while I was being dressed. As a noble, I got used to being dressed by others, so that wasn't it. It was the lack of subtle attempts to let one's hands wander. Normally Minako would jump at the chance to dress me then try to perform lewd acts on me whenever I wasn't armed with my pen. But the maidservant tending to me at the moment was Nagisa, Minako let one of the other ladies-in-waiting do the job without even speaking up. Did something happen? Nah, it's probably nothing.

"What about this one?" Nagisa asked. This new dress was long enough to cover my knees, it also covered my shoulders, and its neck line wouldn't go past my collar bone.

"Perfect," I reply. It wasn't my style, but it would be perfect to sneak around outside of the mansion in if no one would expect me to wear it.

...

It did not take long before we left the Human Village. The road we were going down was surrounded by forests, but open enough to see a wild animal from at least a dozen meters away.

We didn't walk down the road for long before we came across a boy on the same road. He appeared to be a teenager, attractive, albeit not as much as Iga, but his facial features were uncommon to any human in Gensokyo.

If he was a human, wasn't he hot in those clothes? Not including the black trench-coat, he was mostly wearing black. And that hat he was wearing, (a fedora?) also wasn't something you'd see on a human living in the village.

"Gary," Himeko said, "Do you mind being a gentlemen and make sure no one tries to stalk us?"

Gary, that name wasn't Japanese, Chinese, Dutch or even French.

"The pleasure is all mine," he said with a smug smile. He twirled a key shaped object the size of a sword as if to illustrate how he would ensure that we would be undisturbed. "Nothing is going to get past me."

The strict maidservant, Himeko, suggesting we cut back and relax; Minako moving slower than normal and not jumping at the chance to dress me; and now a human from the outside world who thinks he's bad enough to fight anyone.

Something wasn't right here.


	2. Supīdo 1

Proofreading done by WillieG.R, Kaiser Dude, Achariyth1, Captain Vulcan and DokturProfesur.

Noire is a fan given name to the Black Haired Kappa girl from _Wild and Horned Hermit_.

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**Chapter 2**

The man before me had white hair, slightly better than average looking face, clothing considered normal by White Wolf Tengu standards besides the gold decoration. He was a White Wolf Tengu named Charlie. I didn't have to see him often as he was a part of the subdivision that polices Tengu City, but no matter how hard I think, I just can't fathom it.

What kind of name is Charlie? Dutch?

"Just because I'm not allowed to read minds while in Mountain Youkai territory doesn't mean I can't tell what you're thinking, Supīdo," he said casually.

Yes, my name was Supīdo; Snelheid, Vitesse, Speed, Sùdù, or any other language you spoke. It was the name I gave myself to forget my dark past, and as the fastest White Wolf Tengu alive, it certainly fit me. Although, given that I was the most beautiful in all Gensokyo, I probably should have changed my name to Charmer.

"If you'll stop listing the reasons why you're better than everyone else, I have a letter for you from the Tenma," Charlie said. Truly, his ability to read minds was terrifying. While any Tengu is able to do it through studying sorcery, they must severely condition their mental fortitude or risk their brains imploding.

The previous head of the Inubashiri family was foolish enough to find that out the hard way, may he rest in pieces.

"Stop accusing your betters of narcissism," I told him. Without being able to cast mind reading spells, the man was far inferior in combat than me as I've proved in the last tournament we fought each other in. Charlie handed me the letter. "A letter from the Tenma, what does she want?" I asked as I open it.

"It's not for my eyes, so I don't know," Charlie said as he turned and walked away.

...

_"Supīdo; in spite of your abysmal failure to win a fight when confronting the Alpha White Wolf Tengu, the other members of the Assault Team have asked that I do not write you off the list of potential candidates._

_In the meantime, I have a job for you. We are working on a joint project with the other Mountain Youkai, and you are being assigned to assist Sasuke Ito and the Kappa representative for the day. Your superiors have been informed of your absence and have made the arrangements. You will be compensated accordingly._

_Meet the duo at the foot of Youkai Mountain. Also, TRY not to cause another incident or we may be forced to leave you to the mercy of a certain Shrine Maiden."_

_Sincerely, Lord Tenma._

...

It's not my fault when a there's mutual attraction between myself and a noble woman. I am guilty of nothing if she says yes to my advances.

Before I could make a mental list the flaws of society wanting to blame me for its faults, I spotted two individuals. The first was a White Wolf Tengu I've come to despise; while not exactly muscular, he was a complete brute compared to myself, and his face so ugly that it was painful to look upon him. He also had a habit to fight dishonorably when rules were not established. The second was another White Wolf Tengu, a pup roughly a third of the first's height or smaller. It smelled similar to him, so I assumed it was his offspring.

It was a sight to see; the hideous bastard giving a toddler a ride on his shoulders.

He sniffed the air. "Supīdo," Ito said before he turned and looking at me. "You're the help the Tenma assigned?"

"Oh? Are you disappointed that it wasn't another female?" I asked. "You purebloods are all the same, thinking you have the right to mate more freely than us half-breeds just because your fertility levels are a thousand times higher."

Not that I minded actually having poor fertility levels, if a woman could claim that I was her child's father then it could risk killing my ideal life style. The point was to make Ito feel guilty for simply existing, which he should be.

He simply blinked.

"But do you know what it feels like?" I asked while pointing at him, "What if feels like to be born in such a way that you can mate a thousand times and not once does a woman become with your child only for the man next to you to get a woman pregnant on his first try? That's right, Ito, you were born lucky."

Ito said nothing, only lifting the pup from his shoulders and placing the child's feet to the ground. Clearly, he could not come up with a response.

"Go to your mother," Ito said with zero emotion in his voice. The pup nodded and scurried off. Ito then looked to the side. "Noire."

"Morning Master Sasuke," said a kappa woman. Her attire was normal for a Kappa. Her only noticeable features were her cute face and black hair in a bob cut.

Wait a second, did he just ignore me?

"This is Supīdo. By order of the Tenma, he will be our extra hand for the day."

"Nice to meet you, Master Supīdo," she held out her hand to me. While I did reciprocate the gesture, I was stunned. How dare that cheating weaver ignore me?

"Miss Noire, your hair is like the most beautiful of nights," I said with a curt bow. I ignored the blush and smile I placed on her face from my compliment. I needed to find a way to cripple Ito; if I couldn't defeat him with swords, divine power or magic, I would need to defeat him with words.

"Master Supīdo, did you not hear? We're leaving," Noire said before turning around.

"I'm coming," I said as I followed. Hmm... "Master" Supīdo, I liked the sound of that. Unfortunately, she referred to Ito as such, indicating that she didn't mean it in a master/servant sense.

"Oh yes, Supīdo, about what you mentioned earlier," Ito said, "If you're willing to get your nose brown, I know a guy with glasses who just discovered a spell for that."

"Shut up, Ito," I said.

...

The Human Village is the safe haven for a certain species of hairless ape living in Gensokyo. It felt like I've been sent back in time four hundred or so years, only I'm not a child like back then. The Kappa's Genbu Ravine and our Tengu City are significantly more advanced. Even the Yamawaro's home wasn't a technologically backwater like this village, and their place hasn't existed for any more than a year. To think I would be forced to step foot here.

"Hey, is that a Werewolf?" a human asked.

"Look at their hats, I think those are Tengu."

The lowly animals used our attire to distinguish us from those who lacked divinity? I knew that humans were idiots, but this was overkill. I needed to divert my attention from them before my brain was infected by their stupidity.

"So, what exactly is this special joint project I heard the Tenma mention?" I asked the man in charge. Ito doesn't look my direction as we continued to walk.

"Tell me, Supīdo," he started, "What makes youkai? How do they exist?"

"Most youkai, at the very base of their existence, are manifestations conjured or altered as a result of fear from humans."

"And can you tell me why life in Gensokyo is a problem?"

"If you're connecting the two, I would suspect that humans do not fear the youkai as much as they should, providing less of the life blood needed to ensure our existence on a molecular level."

"Yes. However, we found an alternative. You see-"

"Master Ito!" shouted a human male as he approached us. He was likely a human of importance. I could tell because his clothing was finer than what humans living in Gensokyo were known for (I'm certain his kimono was made entirely of silk). Their tastes in clothing was comparatively bland compared to a youkai with a sense of fashion. Either that or they're so pathetic that they can't afford dressing in the basic necessities. He was also accompanied by a human dressed as a guard, indicating that he was someone that was rich enough to pay for protection.

"Lord Hieda," Ito said. His voice was devoid of emotion. He wasn't acting with the pride a Tengu ought to have when addressing an inferior creature.

"I am surprised I saw you before I could make the decision, perhaps this is a sign?" the human noble asked with a polite bow. "If you're not busy, would you so kind as to come with us to the Hieda residence? We am in need of assistance and it's a job I cannot ask a human to do."

A human dared to ask a favor of a Tengu? At least he had the abasement to bow, but he clearly believed that just because he was a noble among humans that he could speak as an equal to a Tengu. But surely, Ito knew better than to perform favors for such apes, especially after being pulled into the Vampire Incident.

Ito turned to the kappa of our group. "Noire, when are we supposed to meet with Nitori?"

"We arrived two hours earlier than anticipated," Noire answered. "So we have two and a half hours to wait before she's finished."

"Are you alright with this?" Ito asked Noire.

"If they have free cucumbers or something I can tinker with." Ito looked to the human noble who nodded, affirming that one or the other would be present.

Wait, they intended to preoccupy themselves with the worries of insignificant individuals?

"Ito, if I may object-" Before I could finish the sentence, Ito raised his finger to me to silence myself.

"Majority vote," Ito said. "But if you want to stay and wait for Nitori alone, be my guest"

The nerve of that insufferable-!

...

I had to admit, the interior of the Hieda's residence is not as tasteless as I thought it would be. I would have preferred a finer place to sit, but I chose to accompany the Ito and Noire to the human lord's mansion. Is that a gold replica of the Hoshiguma Dish? Beautiful.

"Holy Yasaka! These are the most delicious cucumbers I've ever eaten," Noire said as she displayed what I could only assume to be considered poor eating manners to humans. Not that she should care for the animals' opinions.

"Thank you," said the brown haired maidservant. Like the others, she wore an apron and kimono. What set her apart was a small image sewn into the left breast of her clothing. However, her thanks wasn't enthusiastic. She seemed depressed.

"Before you go, Minako," said the head of the Hieda. "You can clarify that this is the kimono?"

The kimono on the table in front of us was white like the one the Maidservant wore, and also had an image sewn into it.

"Yes sir, this was my kimono and I believe that someone aside from me wore it," she said.

"I can smell as such," Ito commented.

"That will be all, Minako," Lord Hieda said. The maidservant's action of picking up the kimono was almost spontaneous. She quickly, yet gracefully (for a human anyways), left the room.

"So you believe that the Child of Miare has been kidnapped," Ito said. "The evidence doesn't deny it."

Lord Hieda sighed. "There were no signs of struggle. And with no sign of which direction she went, we're low on options. As if to confirm our worries, no one in the village has seen her."

"Intuition can only get you so far, but I can confirm that four human females have left through this exit."

"In that case, can we hire you great and powerful-"

"What are you offering us?" Ito asked as if he was refusing to let the man say anything flattering.

"We're White Wolf Tengu," I reminded Ito. "We need nothing from the humans aside from their absolute respect."

Ito merely stared at me before turning back to the human. "What can you offer me and the Kappa girl?"

Ito, you bastard!

"In that case;" the human lord said, "In the event that you bring our daughter back, we can arrange a shipment of cucumbers for the Kappa girl-"

"Cucumbers?" Noire asked, her attention suddenly perked.

"We'll pay you in same kind you were just eating," Lord Hieda clarified. "We've even managed to obtain the recipe and ingredients for 'Deep Fried Cucumbers' if you so desire it."

"I'm in," Noire said, her eyes sparkling like a child being given candy.

The human noble turned to Ito. "And we can arrange free pass for you to the Bamboo Forest's broth-"

"Deal," Ito said, interrupting the man. Wait, what the hell just happened?

"Also, if you can bring back any live kidnappers for questioning, we'll pay you extra. But if they die, we'll turn a blind eye and simply pay you as agreed upon."

"Deal," Ito said as he stood up and turned to Noire and I. "We're going."

...

And that is why we were now walking down a lonesome road through the forest. Oddly, though, there were no trees near the road itself to the point that there's no shade over it.

"So, what are we looking for?" Noire asked. She was wearing a single lens visor, something similar to the prototype I used in my battle with Ito not long ago.

"Four human women, one of which is Hieda no Akyuu," Ito answered.

"Am I the only who thinks this incident will take longer than the two hours time we have given ourselves before having to meet with the other Kappa in the village?" I asked.

"Of course," Noire said. "With my unparalleled genius, the physical might of two good meat shields-"

There was a disturbance in the wind, something was flying at us from behind. I spun only to see a man in the process of throwing his leg at Noire. Before I could even speak, she was sent flying into a tree.

"Ambush!" I shouted as I drew my tantōs and Ito drew his scimitar.

The attacker appeared to be a teenager by human standards. His facial features didn't look like anyone from the Human Village. Yet despite him being a human, it felt like I was looking in the mirror when I looked at his face. He wore a black trench coat, mostly black clothes, and-wait, how did he get his hands on a black fedora? I thought the only fedora in Gensokyo was the white one from Kourindou.

"None shall pass, evildoers," he shouted as he pointed a key-shaped sword at me and Ito. "Know that your vileness will be brought to end! Especially yours, Sasuke Ito!"

"You know this scum?" I asked.

"No," Ito answered.

"What? How could you have forgotten me, Gary the Invincible?" he demanded. "We fought during the Vampire Incident!"

"The only people whose faces I remember are the Scarlet Devil Mansion members. The youkai subordinates and the Demon Army fell so quickly on an individual scale that I didn't care to remember anyone present."

Gary's eyes widened. "No... no, you have amnesia," he said as if he himself couldn't believe it. "Everything that happened before the Scarlet Devil speared you through the head... you've lost all your memories!"

"Mind reader," Ito said. Was that a hint of anger in his voice?

Wait a second, Sasuke Ito actually lost his memories? So this entire time, nobody knew!? He hid this from everyone, how? And doesn't that mean I lost to an amnesiac!? No, no, no, No, NO!

Gary snickered as if he read my mind as well.

"Switch to Anti-mind reader tactics!" Ito didn't need to tell me twice. We both flew in at the human, weapons posed to strike; we'd defeat him using superior strength, speed, tenacity and muscle memory.

Being faster than Ito, I drew closer and slashed first; the human dodged. He tried to swing the key into me, but I dodged.

Ito swung his scimitar; the human dodged easily then countered with a swing of his fist. The human's hand tore through Ito's, sending parts of it and the scimitar flying.

"Ito, hold him off!" I shouted. It was time to disarm the human, I moved my hands and spoke a spell's incantation.

"Hold him off? I-" Ito narrowly dodged another swing of the giant key.

_"Sharpness, precision, efficiency, firmness, rigidity, persistence, strength and determination; balanced presence of clarity and lightness. This is the nature of Metal, the core of the blade."_ White light and gray symbols formed near me. Materializing out of thin air behind me was a gray distortion, a glowing portal, two meters in diameter. _"Infinite Tantōs!"_

Ito was thrown across the field, a mess from fighting in close quarters against the human. But he bought enough time. Multiple tantōs flew out of the distortion and at the human. He lifted his sword and parried each tantōs I threw at him. And then the key broke.

"What?" Gary asked, looking at his now useless weapon.

"Be skewered, Gary," I shouted while prepping thousands of tantōs.

"You think that's going to hit me?" Gary asked. He tried to lift his foot, only to find that he couldn't. "What the Hell?!"

He looked down to see that his feet were in a glowing magic circle.

"Be skewered, Gary," Ito said, holding out a freshly used magic scroll that said "Bind movement," on it. And without him moving, I could focus all one thousand swords on one point. The thousands of tantōs I conjured launched at the pathetic ape. First sword struck him, then the second, then the fifth, then the tenth, then eventually I stopped counting.

"Guaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!" the animal screamed as I skewered it to-Wait, why isn't he bleeding? Why is he moving when his movements were sealed? Is it flying through my tantōs and at me? Holy-!

Pain was sent through my face as my body flew to the ground. Pain shot through my back as I impacted the hard dirt.

I forced myself off the ground. In the distance, I could see Ito throwing wind blades repeatedly at the human who broke the movement seal and bulldozed through my tantōs. The occasional blade of air that would miss would sometimes hit a tree, cleaving it apart like a hot knife through butter, yet every blade that landed a hit on Gary would do nothing more than cut skin. And those cuts closed instantly as if he had youkai regeneration.

But I had worse problems to deal with; I couldn't tell, but it felt like my jaw was knocked clean off my skull, bone and all, leaving that section of my face a bloodied mess. An animal receiving such an injury would have been dead. And that's not even taking into account that I couldn't feel my lower body, probably a result of my back breaking.

I saw an ointment bottle on the ground, the same one Ito would carry. If I recalled correctly, it could heal wounds and increase a youkai's regenerative process. I desperately crawled toward it. Picking it up, I could see that the bottle was cracked, but there was enough to use for a jaw wound. I applied some to the area around my jaw and my back.

Even when I applied the amount needed for optimal results, there was still some left.

Oh yes, Noire.

The ground shakes as a tornado runs through the area. Feeling my lower body again, I pushed myself onto my feet. I was staggering, but I managed to run where Noire was. Holy Tenma, she looked like a blood stain on the tree! All the more reason I needed to save her. I emptied the bottle's contents on her body closest to where I thought her vital organs were.

"Is that all, Sasuke Ito? To think I lost to such pathetic weakness!"

I turned and looked at the duo fighting. Certainly, Ito's attacks were much harder than they were when I fought him, but they were barely doing any visible damage to the human moments ago. By now, Ito actually seemed to stop bothering to attack the ape and focused only on dodging.

Gary was blasted by a powerful gust of wind, causing him to stagger. With a sudden burst of speed, Ito darted to a nearby tree and grabbed it. Gary stopped almost as if he was curious as to what Ito was going to do, but then his eyes widened right before Ito tore the tree out of the ground and threw it at him.

"Stop throwing innocent plants at me!" Gary shouted as he batted away the tree Ito threw. Whoa, wait a second, when could Ito tear trees that size with his bare hands!? I know there're Tengu who much stronger than him, but seriously, when was he able to do that!?

This human could move faster than me, see people's actions before they happened, remain impervious to my _Infinite Tantōs_ spell and nearly so against Ito's wind powers, break out of a movement seal within seconds of being restrained and bat away giant trees with a single hand. No human should wield that sort of power, not even the Hakurei. Maybe it's a youkai in disguise?

Tengu clairvoyance, although its primary function was to let us see things remotely, sometimes the vision could penetrate illusions and reveal the invisible. It wasn't necessarily effective, but it was worth a shot. I activated my clairvoyance in hopes to see the truth.

I saw six incorporeal chains attached to the human's body, three of which were broken, and the three others were linked to incorporeal individuals. The first individual was a Tengu, a man with black hair and crow wings along with our commonly-worn hats. The second was like an Oni, only more monstrous; a Kishin? The third was a man whose body had a third eye linked to it via pulsing veins; likely a satori. I guessed that whoever was the fourth, fifth and sixth chain managed to escaped.

_"That bitch of a hermit, I'm in this mess because of you!"_

_"She killed me, I believed she was just a child and she killed me!"_

_"Satori... Koishi... Orin... I'm sorry..."_

Their wails fell on deaf ears. For I only had an idea of what they were saying because I looked at their lips and tried to translate their movements, I did not hear a single cry from them. But I could see now what the human was doing; he was channeling the powers of several youkai into his single human body. I recalled that only Avatar users, individuals who would use magic (whether learned or innate) to channel the powers of youkai, involved chains. However, it was likely learned and innate since the best Avatar user I've ever seen only could channel the power of mediocre youkai at best and only if they had the youkai's permission.

Ito's attempt to engage the human in close quarters was a failure, I saw the human practically slicing off the Alpha White Wolf's leg with a swing of the arm. A follow up punch sent Ito's spiraling down into the ground below.

"Ito!" I shouted, "He's an Avatar User, and he's augmenting his innate power with magic! Dispel! Dispel!"

"I didn't prepare any dispelling techniques," Ito weakly said.

"What about your Anti-Magic field?"

"His has memories," Gary said with a smug face. "Linked to him via a spell. If he used his Anti-magic field, it could make him truly an amnesiac."

"What entities are being chann-" before Ito could finish his sentence, Gary dashed through the air and at him.

"A satori, a Crow Tengu, and I think a Kishin," I yelled back.

I heard that a Kishin was killed by someone exploiting the weaknesses of an Oni. Perhaps the same can be used here? However, there is still the problem that a mind reading being can easily see all of our actions before we used them.

Ito narrowly dodged Gary's punch, and his hand grabbed the human's forehead. My comrade didn't bother dodging or attacking, and it only took a fraction of a second before the human pulled him off and threw him. Ito crashed into the ground.

Was that a spell that required physical contact? Whatever it was, it probably wasn't worth waiting seven whole tenths of a second.

"If you're not going to stop me, Mr. Supīdo," the human said as it turned to me, "I will have my vengeance for what happened years ago."

Saving Ito's life is not worth risking mine.

"Good answer," Gary said before he turned to walk towards Ito as he lifted a two meter long sword which seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

Getting up from the ground, Ito groaned. "I see, so that's how it is."

"What do you mean?" Gary asked.

"Your power, it originally couldn't hold any youkai without them willing it. Even then, you couldn't channel anything stronger than a beast youkai. But then you accepted working for a bunch of shady individuals so that your innate Avatar ability could be augmented to holding powerful youkai without their permission. You accepted their deal so that you could make life better for the sake of all humanity via eliminating the youkai, all at the low price of making sure no one besides your benefactor's allies passed this point."

Wait a minute, using the power of youkai to eliminate all youkai from existence? Isn't that hypocritical? And if all youkai die, wouldn't that make the human powerless?

"Shut up," the human said.

It's a legitimate problem. He also mentioned earlier that he was fighting for honor and justice, but not all youkai are guilty of crimes, thus making their extermination unjust.

"And why were you using a key shaped blade? Such a weapon is useless."

"Shut up, it's cool!" the human said.

"And a needlessly long sword?" I asked. "Are you compensating for something?"

"Don't you dare insult my buster!" the human shouted.

"And you can't even say that the power is your own because you're stealing it from innocent people," Ito pointed out.

"UAAAAGH!" the human screamed as he grabbed his head in pain. One of the chains connected to him broke, and the satori flew free.

_"FREEDOM! HAHAHAHAHA!"_ the satori shouted in glee as he transformed into a Phantom and flew off.

"Ito," I shouted "The satori is gone!"

"Phantasm: Invincible Foe," Ito said while activating a spellcard. This was the first time I've seen Ito use any of his spellcards. The area was immediately flooded with absurd amounts of energy bullets, striking everywhere and anywhere possible. The human yelled in pain as he failed to dodge the attacks.

He staggered as the bullets stopped, but there was no sign of Ito nor the Kappa girl.

"Where did he go? Where did he freaking go?!" the human yelled as he looked around. My eyes, however, saw Ito standing behind him, hand glowing with eldritch energy.

"Black Lightning," he said. Inches away, he couldn't miss.

"UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Both the human and the Kishin screamed at the top of their lungs as black electricity pulsed throughout them and the chains. The link between them vaporized and the Kishin exploded into Phantoms which flew off in other directions. Gary fell to his hands and knees and dropped the giant sword. However, he started recovering from the shock.

"Guah!?" Gary's eyes widened when a blade stabbed his body and out his chest. Ito had conjured a scimitar in his hands and stabbed it through the human. Ito twisted the blade inside the human's body, earning another pained yell from the ape. "UAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

A blast of wind threw Ito back, he kidded across the ground on his one leg to a stop. His other leg was in the process of regenerating.

"As a Tengu, I'm still more powerful than you-" Gary was cut off as his body is engulfed in black fire which originated from Ito's hand. He immediately fell to the ground and started to roll. As the flame was snuffed out, he was about to scramble to his feet when a tree was swung down on him, possibly breaking his back and...

_"I can finally pass on!"_ the Crow Tengu said as the chain that held him to Gary broke, allowing him to transform into a Phantom and fly off. Ito lifted the tree off of Gary and dropped it to the side. Noire, fully recovered (even if her clothing was worse for wear) approached us.

"Alright, interrogation time," I declared. I turned to other White Wolf present as he was the psychology expert. "That's your job, Ito."

"This, this isn't fair!" Gary choked as he forced himself up.

"Somehow, I doubt you understand the concept," Noire said.

"Of course I do!" the human shouted. "My life had been shit since day one. And then I was finally offered an out when I came to this world-"

"Sasuke, mind shutting him up for me?" the Kappa girl asked. Before the human boy could continue speaking, the Alpha White Wolf backhanded the boy's face, causing him to fall back to the ground. When the human looked back up, I could see it was now disfigured. As much as it was a near death experience for my beautiful and hideous companions, I am glad this occurred. I was given the opportunity to watch an arrogant, self-righteous ape be reduced to the sniffling failure he was.

"I scanned his memory earlier; he knows nothing," Ito said as he slumped onto the ground. "He was simply used to keep us from following the kidnappers."

Oh yes, when he found out how the human gained this level of Avatar channeling. Ito probably discovered everything the rat knew about this incident while he was at it.

"Then we shouldn't waste our time on him," I said.

"If that's the case, may I extract his shirikodama?" Noire asked.

"Do what you want, my ruptured organs are going to take a while to repair and my arm is still regenerating," Ito said be. How pathetic, a youkai's regenerating ability should be better. "Supīdo, scout ahead; we'll catch up."

Not like I needed the help of a Kappa and your slow, bloodied ass to begin with to track and fight.

"Extract my what?" the human asked.

"You have nothing to worry about," the Kappa woman said. The sound of a neck breaking could be heard as I took to the air. "Now how much do the Yakumos buy human bodies for?"


	3. Supīdo 2

For this chapter's completion, I owe my thanks to Acha, Merrick, Doktur, and I think Kaiser and Illusion Fox.

Please leave comments, concerns and questions either in the reviews or PMs. Thank you.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

_"Supīdo, although you lost against the Archer and are no longer in the Alpha White Wolf Tournament, you've been voted most desirable bachelor. How does that make you feel?"_

_The woman standing before me was a Crow Tengu named Aya Shameimaru. If this was going into a newspaper, no one was going to read it. Hell, I even collected newspapers, but I never read them myself. My body wasn't strong enough to carry our special Tengu armor and maintain my unsurpassed agility, so I hired someone to make me paper armor using discarded newspaper. It would have come in handy when I fought Sasuke Ito later._

_"It makes my heart warm to know that there are those who look past combat ability," I said with a smile._

_"Do you have anything to say to those who might be facing the Archer in future rounds?"_

_"If you want to win against him, you must not underestimate him."_

...

I shook my head at the memory. Why was I remembering that now of all times? I was on a mission, tracking four human women. And I had to do it alone. Why? Because my first partner got himself so injured from making enemies for himself years ago and my second partner's species' physiology couldn't run faster than 40 miles an hour without mechanical or magical aid.

Although, unlike my fellow Tengu, the Kappa wasn't sickening to the gut to look at even if a nightly session of love-making was out of the question. Noire was cute, but I wasn't going to have a fling with a Kappa woman again unless I could make sure that she wasn't into me just for my shirikodama like the last two. Horrible times, not as bad as when my parents were killed for marrying despite being two different types of Tengu (even if the police of Tengu City claimed there was no evidence as to why they were killed) but even so there are some places fingers shouldn't go, no matter how delicate. That includes a meter up my intestines. Thank Sarutahiko for being born with regenerative properties.

Back to the present, that ugly Tengu from the weaver family can go kill himself (condescending bastard). My nose may not be as good as his, but it's good enough to track a group of pathetic humans, not to mention I am faster, more dexterous and more likable than him.

Flying over the forest, I followed the scent of the four women we were tasked to find. Wait, where did my control over the wind go? Shit, I'm falling!

"UAAGUH!" I grunted as my body crashed and skidded across the dirt ground. When I finally came to a stop, I pushed myself up, feeling heavier than I normally did.

I had a scrape on my body, it wasn't bleeding but it also wasn't healing. I drew my two tantōs and scanned the area for an enemy target. The two tantōs in my hands felt heavier than normal, like I was holding two ōdachi at the same time. To make matters worse, my eyesight had lost much of its range, which made seeing the attacker harder.

Son of a fairy! My nose wasn't working either, and I can't activate my clairvoyance either! This was clearly a deliberate assault against my senses, so where was the person responsible? Where the hell are they!?

A man walked out of the bushes and onto the road in front of me. The only distinctions he had from a normal human was his white mask fastened to his head by brown cord and the sack strapped to his back. If you took those away, you couldn't pick him out from a crowd.

He froze the moment he looked in my direction. "You're... not Mr. Stewart," he muttered while lifting his hand. "Sorry, but this is for the greater good."

Lightning flew from his hand. It struck me and pain coursed throughout my whole body. I staggered back before I caught myself.

"You're sturdier than you look," he said before he raised his hand again. "But this will end y-"

While he was in mid-sentence, I materialized a tantō out of thin air and magically propelled it at the man. Unable to dodge it, it struck him in the shoulder, making a shallow cut and interrupting his spell. My abilities as a Tengu and as a youkai seemed to be unresponsive, but I still wielded my magic just fine. If he wanted to make this a fight using spells, I'd simply overwhelm him with a spell that he can't defeat.

He lifted his hand. I could see the magical energies in it. I leapt to the right as fast as I could, narrowly dodging the lightning as it flew from his hand.

I made the hand motion "Hasten" for casting my spell. This would let me cast the spell immediately, bypassing the need of speaking its incantation, even if it would burn through my magical energy reserves at a much greater rate, "Infinite Tantōs."

The human's eyes widened. "Shit! SHIT!" he shouted. He knew that he wasn't prepared to fight against me. He could see his inevitable death. The gray gate formulated behind me. The human made hand movements. The tantōs formed from the gray distortion. The human continued chanting while making hand movements. And since my swords contain poison, all I needed was one hit to kill him.

The tantōs flew at the human by the hundreds, each at the speed of arrow. He had nowhere to go. I won.

"Lighting Chain!"

In that instant, I was blinded and seared by the same force from before, albeit weaker. But less pain only allowed me to see the thousands of tantōs I create be torn apart and feel the gate behind me explode into magic particles. I was only knocked off balance, nothing a few seconds of rest on my knee couldn't help. But his spell rendered my efforts a complete waste.

"Still alive, let alone conscious... A side effect from being in the field?" the human asked as he pulled out a scroll. "Anti-magic field."

He's gutting his only means to fight me? I can turn this around! I picked up my two tantōs from the ground and charged at him. He drew something like a gold plated pistol and-

A loud crack rang through the air. I did not even see a hint of anything flying at me before I felt something tear through my arm.

"Uagh!" I grunted.

"Gary Stewart," the masked man said, "I must thank you for bringing this weapon into our world."

I staggered, but before I could run, another loud crack rang through the air. I felt something hit my stomach, only being stopped by the paper armor I wore underneath my clothes. A third and my shoulder felt like its surface was cut with a hot knife as my limbs were not protected by the paper armor. A fourth, my leg collapsed underneath me. A fifth crack, a sharp pain in my chest as I was thrown onto my back. The bullet was stopped, but I felt like I had internal bleeding, and my body was still weakening from the previous wounds.

I'm in pain, the clicking sound coming from the gun is painful to hear, I feel cold.

"Huh, only the satori lived past the first shot before," the human said. "Good thing I aimed for body instead of the head, being a piss poor shot and all."

Wait, the human was an incompetent with such a lethal weapon, yet here he was inflicting brutal after brutal injury on me? Impossible! My defeat was not befitting of this worm! My birthright as a Tengu will not be tainted. I forced my foot underneath me and tried to stand.

"You're still fighting. That must mean your youkai abilities are still working their magic." The human laughed. "Get it? Magic?" he asked. He paused for a moment, looking at me as I tried to get onto my second leg before he resumed speaking. "Sorry, it must have sounded funnier in my head. Dismiss spell," he said. I could feel the air vibrate, as if the invisible field created by his magic collapsed. But before I could even start casting a spell, he struck me with his gun as if it were a blunt weapon. Too weak from the blood loss, I fell to my knees. But my concentration, although weak, wasn't broken; the spell would exhaust my magical energy supply to the last drop since I couldn't make hand movements or speak its incantations, but my wounds would close. He holstered the pistol and pulled out a book. He outstretched his hand and spoke. "Demon Book: Eternal Containment. And here, the human kills the youkai."

What? A human killing a Tengu? A youkai sorcerer can be this powerful, a vampire can be this powerful, an oni can be this powerful, a devil can be this powerful, a demon can be this powerful, even a beast can be this powerful. One single human, on the other hand, can't be this powerful!

"Impossible! Ludicrous!" I said, my new found strength making me stand on my feet again. "I, the fastest and most beautiful White Wolf Tengu, will not be defeated by a filthy primate!" I declared as I charged him with my swords.

I felt something jolt through me and I couldn't move. My body started glowing and-what was this? My arms, they started cracking apart like brittle dirt, and the pieces that fell turned into ethereal energy. My legs started breaking apart too! Now my body and head were disappearing, melting away, turning into mist!

"What did you do!?" I ordered him. "Answer me, you worm! I demand you to tell me!" He simply stared; a cold, uncaring, condescending stare. It was as if he was bored of me, like my existence didn't matter.

Stop it, you mongrel! I'm better than you! Don't you dare stare at me like that! Don't stare at me like that! I'm better than you! Don't stare at me like that! Let me go! You filthy monkey!

I'll come back just like any other youkai does and-Wait, why is it so dark? I can't see anything! Oh gods, where am I!? I can't hear anything! I can't feel anything!

Is he sealing m-?


	4. Supīdo 3

My thanks to DokturProfesur helping me write this chapter and letting me use Airi and Daisuke.

My thanks to Achariyth1 proofread this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

They say Tengu have perfect memories. If they did, it would explain why I remember the day of my birth, back before I took the name Supīdo. As hunger and cold gripped me painfully, I cried out for air. It was during that cry when I first heard someone's words.

"Congratulations! It's a boy!"

It was not the voice of either of my parents, rather some kappa friend of my father's. No respectable Crow Tengu wanted to deliver a half-breed mutt, so it fell to someone I would never know. He died at the hands of the same man that took my family from me.

I didn't know it at the time, but my parents were somewhat disappointed. At that time for White Wolf Tengu, perhaps maybe even all of Gensokyo, women had the power in society. But a male? All we could do was lead a mundane life, or be a warrior. Perhaps if we were powerful or attractive enough, we could ensure that the best women looked our way when we sought out life partners. Even if we were more successful, we were considered more expendable. And a female child properly used could have offered my family a chance to reach a higher level on the cruel caste system we were born into, a necessity for them since they were a couple who crossed the line that separated subspecies.

"Have you discussed a name?" the kappa asked.

That was when I first heard father's voice, a hum of contemplation. "We discussed names for a daughter..."

The kappa laughed. "Come on, you had to have prepared in some capacity."

A long silence from father. "Perhaps... Sōjōbō? After the great king of the tengu."

"That sounds lovely," my mother said softly as she caressed me. "My darling Sōjōbō..."

...

_A myriad of men are born..._

...

"Sōjōbō! Put down the knife!"

I was a pup, father. You didn't have to look so scared. Maybe if you didn't insist on carrying your scimitar everywhere then I wouldn't have taken up a blade. Did you want to be the only fighter in the family? You weren't even a White Wolf like mother was.

"He wants to be like you, Daisuke; a strong warrior." Mother more than approved of my career choice, even with me waggling the blade in front of my newborn baby sister. It wasn't like I could do much else.

"If he hurts Airi, I'm taking him down," Father warned. Even with his cowardly attempts to defend the women of the household from my budding martial skills, I could see something in his eyes. For the first time my father was proud.

That memory is what spurred me on to become greater than even the great king himself.

...

_They labor, sweat and struggle..._

...

"Bwother!"

"Let go of me, Airi!" I said. My sister was a clingy girl; most of her life was spent holding my hand. I couldn't grasp why, but upon reflection it made future events a little easier to stomach.

"Sōjōbō, be nice to your sister!" Mother called from her garden.

Airi was the family favorite. All of our parents' hopes were placed unto her, while for me I could only do "good enough" or "pretty good."

No "fantastic job" or "incredible!" Instead my life was spent wallowing in the mediocrity my sister's shadow cast.

I resented her, but when you saw those innocent eyes, when you felt all of the love she had for you, you could put it all aside for as long as she's around. Let it never be said anyone loves you more than family.

This only made what happened the following year harder to endure.

...

_They squabble, scold and fight..._

...

Nobody in the city talked about it anymore. They all knew, but they refused to speak of it. And when I prodded, they never let up on their silence.

The crimson blade followed me, and I ran away as fast as I could. It followed me through the build, destroying everything that got in its way. As darkness took me, it was all I could think about.

"Brother?" I turned and saw Airi standing before me. That was the end. Had I been faster, perhaps things would have been different. The blade turned from me as I was no longer worth the effort to chase. Before me, before I could save her, Airi had been sliced in two. Whether it was magic, divine power or some obscure ability which I did not know of, it made Airi's injuries final.

Rage, what came next was rage. I probably shouted obscenities, but what remained fact was that I leaped at Airi's killer. I found myself falling to the ground as I was cut across the chest.

When was there fire? The fire was burning the building. I could see my father enter the room.

"Sōjōbō, hang on!" He ran for me, but was stopped as the red blade appeared again, stabbing through his chest.

"GUAH!" He tried grabbing the assailant, but then his head made a sharp turn with a loud crack. He fell to the ground as the man holding the crimson blade became visible.

The man looked in my direction and spoke, "We're better off without a useless half-breed. Be thankful your death was quick."

And darkness took me.

...

_They scramble for little mean advantages over each other..._

...

I awoke under rubble. Outside I could hear the shouts of adults as they searched for survivors. At the time, I was in shock. I could barely remember what transpired the night before.

"Himekaidou, I found someone! A pup by the looks of it!"

"Well don't just stand there, get the poor thing out!"

The next thing I knew a great weight lifted off of my shoulders. I saw a brunette Tengu woman, her face the picture of happiness. "Hey there."

"H-hello," I managed.

The next thing I knew, she hoisted me out of the charred debris. "You've caught quite the break. The invisible assassin nearly got you."

The dark haired Tengu who I would soon know of as Mr. Himekaidou was next to us, and he spoke up. "Aya, isn't that Daisuke's kid?"

The girl looked rather confused. "What do you mean...?" Her face fell the longer she looked at me.

...

_Age creeps upon them and infirmities follow._

...

Back then, we didn't call the Tengu medical ward the medical ward. But it still served as the work place of the Tengu doctor. The patrol tengu rushed me to see him. Whatever had hurt me was keeping my body from healing.

"What can you tell me, Sōjōbō?" the Tengu doctor asked as he sat in front of me.

Somewhere between sobs, I remembered choking up what I remembered, seeing my father and sister die before me.

"The murderer, what did he look like?" the officer asked who was in charge of the investigation asked.

My description wasn't any help, too generic to pin down. And telling them about the red sword didn't help either.

...

_Those they love are taken from them..._

...

I went to the market to buy food. I had the money needed for the purchases, but the reason I was doing it haunted me. And of course, no one cared to not talk about the reason why.

"That's the boy who is inherited Daisuke's fortune?" one bystander asked another. No one spoke of my relation to him, clearly not wanting to remember the fact I was a mixed blood.

"I think child heirs are only allowed to use their inheritance for necessities." Out of the corner of my eye, I could see two individuals notorious for gossip. Of course it was only a matter of time before others joined their them in their filth.

"It was determined that someone in Shameimaru's will hired out an assassin to kill them all." Stop talking, you ignoramus. I don't want to be reminded of the horror I went through.

"Someone tried taking advantage of a rich man's will?" No, it was an assault out of spite. The murderer's disgust for half-breeds made it apparent.

"The boy will surely have more people trying to kill him." Thank you for reminding me that I will have to watch my back.

"No. Since he's still alive, the fortune is all his, and a bunch of White Wolf Tengu have been tasked to find the culprits. All is well." No it isn't. My mother, my father and my sister are all dead! Even if you acted like it, I could see that none of you cared about how I felt.

"Here are your bamboo shoots, Mister Shameimaru," the bamboo dealer said to me, handing me the bamboo shoots I purchased. "Have a nice day."

Too late.

...

_And the joy of life is turned to aching grief._

...

How many years ago was this... one hundred? Two hundred?

It was a barren cliff looking over the south side of Youkai Mountain. This was a site where a group of White Wolf Pups first entered their training to become members of the Mountain Defense Corp. I was among them. Today was actually the second day of training. Facing the lines of trainees was the Tengu who was in charge of overseeing our conditioning, and he spoke as we stood at attention.

"You are weak, you are all bleeders!" he shouted. "In fact, you're not worthy of even being taught by me! So, now that you know that, I think you'll understand why I'm leaving you in the hands of Warrant Officer Inubashiri!"

Our superior pointed at the tall, muscular female White Wolf Tengu who stood next to him. He turned and began walking away before speaking. "Mrs. Inubashiri, you know what to do."

Until after he vanished from sight, there was complete silence.

"Momiji, isn't that your mother?" one female pup whispered to another. My eyes shifted to the two girls talking, friends likely. The one I assumed to be Momiji was terrified.

Then Mrs. Inubashiri spoke.

"Listen up, you nipple sucking shit stains! I've been informed that you as a group lack the efficiency needed in the Mountain Defense Corp, so much so that I had to be dragged from my duties to help deal with your incompetence. But where most trainers would have given up on you, I will not. I swear to you, I will work you all until you can tear a sorcerer in half with your bare hands! Are there any questions!?"

If I recalled correctly, the Mountain Priest Tengu at this time were considered the lowest subspecies of the Tengu. If we were lower than their feces...  
A fellow pup raised his hand, he beamed with confidence. "Permission to speak, Ma'am!"

"Recruit Ito, what is your concern?" Mrs. Inubashiri asked, looking in the pup's direction.

"Do I really need this training? I mean, yesterday, I aced all of the training activities the guy you replaced gave us."  
So did Surudoi Me, and that guy had beaten all of Sasuke Ito's scores yesterday, but he wasn't even asking about getting out of training. Granted, he was smoking at the moment. Where did he get that pipe and why hasn't it been confiscated?

"So, you a badass, huh?" Mrs. Inubashiri calmly asked. Her messy hair swayed as she walked towards Sasuke. "Probably able to beat half the class with both hands tied behind your back, huh? Tell you what, I'll give you a special opportunity to prove it, just for someone of your caliber. One rule; you're not allowed to use your sword, magic or wind abilities."

"Really? What's this special opportunity, Ma'am?" Ito asked.

"The question should be; 'Are you sure you're up for the challenge, Recruit?'"

If Ito wasn't standing straight before, he was now. "Ma'am, yes, ma'am!"

Was it a kick? Was it a punch? Whatever it was, it was too fast for me to see. But Ito found himself flat on his rear.

"AAGH!" he screamed, clutching his face.

"The First Law of Battle: Your plans will get screwed over when you meet the enemy; that's why they're called the enemy!" Mrs. Inubashiri yelled. She turned to the rest of us. "Now, are there any more questions?"

We all stayed silent. We would have laughed had we not been so terrified of the warrant officer.

"Good, now we can begin."

...

_It comes at last..._

...

It wasn't called the census office back then, but it was where I chose my name, the name that would represent my existence from that moment until the day I died.

"Sōjōbō Shameimaru, what brings you here?" the census officer asked.

I placed the scroll containing everything needed for me to change my name before him. He opened it and read it before looking back to me.

"You sure about this? You never spoke to your other relatives about it?"

"We've come to an understanding," I said.

"Very well." He took a pen and dipped it in ink before signing the scroll. "Your name henceforth shall be Supīdo."

...

_The only unpoisoned gift earth ever had for them..._

...

Among the White Wolf Tengu, there are levels as to who is born lucky or not.

White Wolf Tengu with a non-White Wolf Tengu parent are identical to normal White Wolf Tengu, only their fertility levels are abysmally lower. This makes them the lowest. Although I've heard rumors that some Dai Tengu were one in a thousand chance hybrids born better than their peers. If that's true, I've never seen it myself.

The next lowest are those lucky to be born full blooded White Wolf Tengu. They were neither blessed nor cursed.

Then there are those born with the ability to see the past, present and future with a sight that can see vast distances and pierce illusions. This power, called telegnosis, was what separated the normal White Wolf Tengu from those "Born Lucky." And whether by accident or training, Momiji was greatest of all Tengu with this ability.

Surudoi Me, however, was born truly blessed. So blessed that he would put those born as Dai Tengu to shame. He could do everything a White Wolf Tengu his age could do. Strength, speed, stamina, magical abilities, good looks, telegnosis, picking up skills in far less time than anyone else; he was the best there was among us.

There was, however, a problem. He rarely, if ever, trained. His body was absolute perfection, but he did nothing to earn it and squandered it to fight authority, drink until he stank of alcohol, smoke until the air killed others, and slept around like it a religious duty.

I hated him for it. True, I did not put as much effort into my training as I could have, but individuals trained to the point where they were monsters among us, and even they had trouble keeping up with Surudoi. And I know that I didn't complain when I found myself going to bed with a different woman every night. But Surudoi called it a curse, when it was anything but.

So when that fateful day came when the Alpha White Wolf Tengu was reported dead, I rejoiced. But my joy became sorrow soon after. A tournament was held for the purpose of selecting a new White Wolf Tengu Alpha.

My first opponent was a hideous individual. I fought, I lost immediately. The difference between our sword skills, in spite my superior speed, was glaring vast. What was he? He tore through his other opponents all the same.

My next fight was against another powerful Tengu only referred to as "The Archer." The fight was the same, only instead of having to look on the most hideous creature to be born of Tengu blood, it was an individual who screamed things unintelligible as he proceeded to eviscerate me.

...

_And they vanish from a world where they were of no consequence._

...

Loss? Oh yes, I lost... to that human. I must be seeing my memories. But I never saw my memories when being defeated before. Does this mean that this was the end of the line? Does this mean that I am actually dying?

Thinking about it, I often went out of my way to put others down to make myself appear better than them. I always criticized people for making mistakes, and expected to not receive any judgment when I made those same mistakes. In the end, my Tengu pride was my undoing. Worse, I am a hypocrite. And now it's too late for me to fix the problems I've caused.

What was the point of it all anyways... I lived my life and died before I did anything worthwhile. The one girl I loved turned me down on the off chance that she could get a lesser man than me whom she somehow desired more. And I failed to sire any children, in spite all of the women I've...

Of course, I shouldn't be afraid. Even if my body is destroyed, I can still live as a phantom. Perhaps I should be happy that I'm not wasting my time on meaningless things anymore.

A voice? I see, someone came to save me. They're too late, but knowing that someone cared enough to come for me...

...

_The world may lament them a day, but it will forget them forever._


	5. Akyuu - Intermission

Thank you Merrick (from the Chatroom) and Achariyth1 for proofreading.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

So there I was, the daughter of the esteemed Hieda family, a girl so charming even Kaguya Houraisan would be jealous of me when I wore my plainest outfit, exiting the thick of the forest with my three maidservants. We had been fortunate not to get our clothes dirty on this long walk. Now that the road led further away from the forest, I could see that it would lead us towards Youkai Mountain.

I stopped walking and looked up into the sky. In spite of the Sun's warm rays, I still could not shake the spine-chilling feeling that something was wrong. Something besides Minako not burying her face in my chest and Himeko telling me I'm allowed to have fun.

"Uguu?" Nagisa asked, confused. "Is something wrong, Lady Akyuu?"

I looked back at her and waved my hand dismissively. "No, I don't think so."

Her face remained worried. "I beg your pardon but... you're crying."

I blinked and placed my hand on my face. I felt the wetness of tears on my finger. I'm not worried about Himeko and Minako's odd behavior so much that I'm about to break down, am I?

Perhaps I really should talk about it to Nagisa. But should I inform her about my suspicion of Himeko and Minako's odd behavior? Nagisa's behavior seemed normal to me, but I didn't interact with her as much as I did with Himeko, let alone the fact that I interacted with Minako more than both of them combined. My grasp of her character was as deep as Kosuzu Motoori's poetry.

No, I shouldn't hesitate. If Nagisa wasn't suspicious, I needed to make her aware of the problem as soon as possible. For that reason, I decided to take the chance and whispered to her. "Is it just me or have Minako and Himeko-" Before I could finish my sentence, Himeko spoke up from in front of us.

"Look everyone, you can see the hot springs from here," she said. Looking forward, I could see the wooden structure ahead of us and steam rising above it.

"Finally," Minako said. "No sense in anyone dying here."

A chill ran down my spine and I rubbed my eyes. Had a shadow just fallen across Minako's face or was it the head?

"Yes," I gulped. "Yes, indeed."


	6. Sinsack 1

I never did put down any indication whether it's Yumetsugu or Yumeta (both from Perfect Memento in Strict Sense).

Thank you Achariyth for proofreading.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Eating at a food stand in the village was probably the least suspicious way to meet someone in secret, like the man next to me who ordered pork skewers.

"Yume-" With a wave of my hand, I cut the man speaking to me off. No names, I didn't want to be tracked. Thankfully, the chef didn't see my action, so there would be no suspicion.

"Sorry," he said. "The ladies are ready to party, what is the status of the birthday girl?"

By "birthday girl," he meant the daughter of the Hieda. I saw the chronicler last night at a meeting between several influential people of the Human Village including her father and the mayor. She looked like she hated every minute of it.

By ladies, he meant our three moles in the Hieda mansion. "Being ready to party" meant they were ready to escort Hieda no Akyuu should her mental state allow it.

"She'll be happy about the surprise." I saw how stressed she was at the meeting. Whatever the cause was, we wouldn't get another chance like this in the near future.

"You understand what your job is, correct?" he asked me.

It would have been more accurate to say jobs as I had five of them. These jobs were: Ensure the safe passage of Hieda no Akyuu and her escorts. Seal any youkai into the demon book I would be carrying when possible. Kill the outsider named Gary Stewart should he show any risk of betraying us. Obtain his corpse should he die. Report on how well his use of the Avatar magic when combined with his innate Avatar ability was.

"Yes," I answered.

"Good, move to your position in a day." A day meant an hour in this conversation. He placed a compass in front of me. There was nothing special about it, except that it wasn't pointing north. "And take this with you, that way you'll be able to meet Poser."

The compass was probably tracking Gary Stewart. Poser was our code name for him, like how I was known as Mr. Black.

"Also," he added, "I have a message from Akira."

"Yes?" I asked. Akira referred to our leader, Mr. A. It wasn't what the A stood for nor was it his real name.

"He said, 'Do not screw this up.'"

...

I was standing on the road in the forest at the check point I would be waiting at. I looked around to see where I could hide to set up an ambush. I saw something in the corner of my eye and could tell that it was shiny and blue when I turned and looked at it.

Wait, blue in a forest? There shouldn't be any large bodies of water in the area and I don't remember the last time I've seen a blue plant in the wild. There is either magic at work or a youkai nearby. I couldn't let this become a problem the moment anyone passed by on the road. And so, with some time to spare, I approached the shiny blue object. But as I approached it, it only got bigger. By the time my Anti-supernatural ability field would touch it, I could tell that it was at least ten meters high.

The shiny blue thing was made of reptilian scales, and the top had spikes. Judging from my position, it seemed to continue several dozen meters in both directions. It was littered with cuts, stab wounds, occasional weapons plunged deep into it, and even a bite mark larger than my body. Somehow though, looking at it felt like I was trying to look at something that wasn't even there. But if I had to make a comparison, I would say that it was the tail of lizard, a really big lizard. However, with all of the trees blocking the view of both ends, I could not confirm this.

It moved, indicating that it was alive. If this creature had any supernatural power besides magic then I could negate it; but something of this size could easily kill me anyways. I didn't want to begin testing theories on what it could do. But the problem in that it was even here near the road could jeopardize the mission. I needed to make sure it would stay put until the others finished their work.

I would have drawn my gun, a weapon from the outside world. Gary Stewart let me take it when he deemed it useless to him after he discovered that a Tengu could catch the bullets with its teeth. According to him, it could fire off ten bullets before I would have to reload, but the magazine he gave me only had nine in it. Now? After using two bullets to kill a satori, a bullet to kill a fox youkai, and a bullet to kill a Tsukumogami, I only had five bullets remaining in its magazine and had no ammunition to reload it with.

Would this gun even make the creature react? Either way, I wasn't wasting ammunition; I picked up a large rock and chucked it at the giant blue lizard tail. The creature's tail moved less than a foot in response, but nothing else happened. Then I shouted really loudly, again the tail merely moved by several inches. Nothing I did could wake it up.

I did not know whether to be happy that it was nigh impossible for me to wake it up or terrified about the possibility of how powerful it was.

"What was that loud noise? Was someone shouting?" I heard a woman ask in the distance. I made my way back to the road side. I could see my three comrades and Hieda no Akyuu with them. They were all dressed as common folk, as opposed to being nobles and servants hired by said nobles. The one dressed as lady's close friend, Minako, was staring at the tree tops behind me with a confused face.

"I beg your pardon, ladies," I said to them in the worst thug voice I could muster so that the Child of Miare would not recognize me from last night. "I thought this road wouldn't have anyone on it. I can wait until you pass before resuming."

"Right, says the man with the mask who came out of nowhere," pointed out the young noblewoman. Oh yes, I had put on a sack over my head to hide my identity. As for the other two, they were glaring at me whether out of acting or because I was to keep myself hidden and unheard at all times. "I mean, it even says 'Sin' on it."

'Minako,' however, said nothing and kept staring at the tree tops behind me. Her face was one of confusion.

"You're of no interest to me," I said. "Move along, I won't follow."

"We have our eyes on you," one of my comrades said. Even though I turned my back to them, I could hear one of them speak. "Girl, I thought you said this road wasn't being used. That was the whole reason we got Gary to help us."

"By the way, the road ahead is a fork," I said. While it was truth, it was code to my comrades that something came up and I was forced to reveal myself but they were to continue on as planned.

"Thank you," I heard as they left.

Now that I think about it, why was 'Minako' looking at the tree tops behind me? I walked to where 'Minako' was standing and looked up-HOLY SHIT!

If one looked at it now, they would say there was nothing. Indeed, I couldn't give a description to what I saw now that it was gone. But for a moment there was something there.

Saw it the rest of that giant lizard tail I saw in the forest? Does it turn invisible somehow? Am I going crazy? If Minako saw it, why didn't the others? Did they simply not look up? I'm going to swear off the sake from now on regardless. For the time being, I need to focus on my mission. I'll keep in mind where I saw the... thing so that I know where not to run if trouble abounds. I walked to the bushes to hide.

It was only a few minutes before something happened.

"UAAGUH!"

When I heard the voice cry out in pain, I immediately ran out of my hiding spot and saw the man who had crashed into the road.

Alarms went off in my head before I could register that he was a White Wolf Tengu and not a human, meaning the Hieda family hired Tengu to stop us.

"You're... not Mister Stewart." I dumbly said as I instinctively started casting a lighting spell.

...

I stood in the forest road, absorbing the remains of the youkai into one of the pages of the demon book.

As he dissolved into the energies that made up youkai, he seemed to be trying to say something in pained mumbles. If he was fighting even after receiving this much physical damage, perhaps I should have brought an extra weapon. In hindsight, I probably should have closed the distance between us after he was immobile and had the second shot aimed for his head.

Now that I think about it, that is how I killed the satori. But with the Tengu, instead of using two bullets I wasted my last five. I have to question how I am still alive when I am such an idiot.

Even so, I didn't expect to contain a Tengu. I never knew for certain that my unique power worked on the divine. Granted, I've made it a point to stay away from deities as I could mix up between them and youkai. But if the Tengu got this far, that likely meant that Mister Stewart was killed. All that was left for me to do was to collect Gary Stewart's body, if there was one.

I heard the sound of something running. I turned and saw another Tengu coming at me, armed with a giant curved sword. I back stepped as quickly as I could, narrowly evading a fatal cut. The Tengu staggered before quickly grabbing the sword with both hands. He looked at it in confusion. Getting a better look at the Tengu, his ears and tail were smaller than the Tengu I had to fight a few moments ago. He was also taller, broader shouldered, and ugly as sin. He kept half an eye on me, but even so he still looked at his sword with a perplexed look.

"Negation of youkai and divine abilities as well as Qi control," he said as he sheathed the giant sword. "But not magic."

"Well done, chump," I said as I prepared a spell for each of my hands, "That's quite a grasp of the obvious you have there."

"My apologies," he said as he dropped the sheathed scimitar from his belt.

"If you don't mind me asking, did you see any humans on this road?" I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. I used one hand to cast a lie detection spell. It should last beyond the end of the conversation.

"Someone calling himself Gary the Invincible was killed."

No reaction from the lie detecting spell, he was telling the truth.

"No matter. Are you ready to die?" I asked.

"I have enough magic to cast in excess of twenty-five or more spells," he said as his hands started flaring with magical energy. "Not including spellcards."

There was no reaction from the lie detection. How many youkai are able to cast that many spells? Wait a second, he was an ugly Tengu! The Vampire Incident, if I recalled correctly it was resolved thanks to the youkai sages meeting with each other and later with Reimu Hakurei. But before that, the fighting was quelled when a hideous White Wolf Tengu aided the late Hakurei Priestess by defeating the vampire's demon army, youkai subordinates and those who lived in the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

The youkai standing before me was an absurdly powerful monster that was both intelligent and notorious for fighting dirty without a sense of pride or honor. I could survive a fight against him, but armed with only enough magic to cast twenty spells at most and lacking a weapon to use against his two handed sword, I was at an obscene disadvantage.

"Bring it on," he said with a glare.

"Oh, Hell no! I was prepared to defend myself from a normal youkai attack," I lied. "I didn't come here expecting to have to fight pretty boy extreme and a crazy-prepared, insanely strong psycho!"

He took his fighting stance. Even when reduced to essentially human level, he wasn't fazed. I wasn't going to let myself be added to the list of bodies on this bastard's body count. I focused on conjuring magic once more, gathering it my hand in the form of electricity.

"Yet you're preparing to attack," the Tengu pointed out.

"Augmented Lighting!" The spell I fired, however, was not aimed at the mountain youkai. I instead aimed it in the direction of the giant blue tail in the forest. Thunder rattled the trees when my spell hit.

But the thunder was but a whisper to the roar that occurred, shaking the very Earth beneath my feet, and signaling that I woke my target up.

"But it looks like I won't have to fight you after all," I said before pulling out a scroll that contained a spell for escaping. "Zie je, nooit."

I was no longer on the road but on a nearby mountain side, watching as the hulking mass seemed to melt into existence and raised itself above the above the trees. Unlike me, the Tengu didn't flee, and so the giant monster saw him the moment it turned around.

Its size was massive. The reptilian monster was such a size that a single tooth was the size of a man. It had a long mouth that was filled with twenty-five razor-sharp teeth to a quarter of its mouth, a hundred in total if I didn't miss any. Its head was slightly but disproportionately small for a reptile. Its back was aligned with crystal-like blades and the arm and leg muscles bulged as if it spent its life perfecting its appearance. Then there was the tail that was longer than the rest of its body.

Its eyes bore down on the wolf youkai for only a moment before it let out another Earth shaking roar. To say it was angry was an understatement. This monster was furious.


	7. Sinsack 2

Thank You, Kaiser Dude, Achariyth1 and Merrick (from the Chatroom) for proofreading this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

When I was given the title Mr. Black, I didn't think I would be given the chance to see a fight like this. While the spectacle of two powerful youkai fighting was always a sight to see for a human like myself, it was rarer when two youkai decided to throw down without involving spellcards. That meant that the youkai were serious about killing their opponent even at the risk of pissing off Gensokyo's lynchpin, whom they could not kill if they didn't want to risk dying in the process.

That or the youkai were stupid.

On one side of the 'arena' was a White Wolf Tengu with a face only a mother could love, robbed of his innate youkai and divine abilities thus only capable of using trained magic. On the other side was a giant ice iguana with disproportionately large limbs and tail, robbed of its much needed sleep and with no one other than said Tengu to vent its frustrations on. Which did I want to win? Neither.

The creature opened its maw. But instead of a roar, streams of different colored lights shot out. The deified youkai leapt to the side of the beam, avoiding the stream before it struck the ground. The blast threw dirt in all directions. When the lights faded, the earth in its wake was burnt.

The giant lifted its front claw, leaving a patch of ice on the ground. The claw reached forward and crashed down, causing the ground to shake. I could see the Tengu scrambling to his feet, having been knocked down by the earth quaking beneath him.

The Tengu formed a black and red magic circle beneath its feet. Darkness and fire swirled together in his hand, creating a black flame.

"Hellfire - Fireball!" the Tengu declared, throwing his hand out and shooting a beam of black flame at the giant. The dark ball of flame sailed through the air before it hit the iguana's face and bounced right back at the Tengu. "Gah!" the Tengu grunted as he rolled out of the path of his own attack.

The flame scorched the ground where he once stood. The ground was now barren, sterilized of the ability to grow plants. But the monster? Nothing, absolutely no sign of damage.

Note to self: this giant ice monster with ice powers is immune to flame when combined with darkness. Since I was at a safe distance, I took the opportunity to check my compass. Looking at it, I saw that it wasn't pointing down the road where Stewart should have been. In fact, the arrow was moving away. This meant that his corpse was being moved. I looked up and back at the fight.

"Black Earth - Magic Stone," the Tengu said. The ground beneath him turned black, and from that darkness several large rocks lifted into the air in front of him. The Tengu flicked his wrists, and the black rocks shot at the larger monster. They slammed into the iguana's body, making shockwaves from the force. The rocks crumbled, but as the dust settled, there was no sign of physical damage done to the giant's ice like surface.

The giant lizard growled, lowered its head, opened its fang lined mouth and charged.

"Black Earth - Stone Wall; Maximum Strength!" With a stamp on the ground, the Tengu made a giant wall of black rock lift itself out of the ground. The behemoth's mouth hit against it, stopping the creature and causing it to recoil.

Judging the wall from my position, it was at least five meters thick and twenty meters wide and tall. It was also horribly cracked now that the iguana tried battering it once.

"Black Earth - Stone Wall!" A smaller wall erected itself behind the first. But the iguana did not charge a second time. It opened its maw, revealing the multicolored energies gathering.

The laser, more intense than the last, tore through both walls without effort and burned into the earth. When the energies let up, all that was left of the two structures were rubble. And the Tengu was nowhere to be seen.

"Dark Water - Blast." The explosion of black colored liquid was instantaneous. The giant youkai immediately screeched in pain. The Tengu covered his ears, as did I. But I could see that there wasn't any damage done to the creature itself. In fact, the wound that had been attacked was actually healing as the black liquid froze over it.

Hellfire, Black Earth, Dark Water; these three darkness infused elements did nothing to hinder the abomination. One it was immune to, one healed it, and the other was turned against the caster down on the ground. Perhaps the problem was the addition of the Darkness Element. Was the Tengu unable to use magic not tainted by darkness?

The iguana turned to its left and saw the Tengu who was trying to circle around the larger opponent. But now that the monster could see him, there was no escape. The giant lifted its claw.

"Black Lightning!" the wolf youkai cried in desperation, firing a bolt that was black as night at the iguana. It reared back when the spell landed its hit, and roared in agony. Did it work? Aside from the reaction, I couldn't see if there was any change in the creature's appearance. It wasn't healing the monster like the Dark Water spell did, but that didn't mean it was doing any physical damage either.

"Black Lightning!" the Tengu shouted, firing more black bolts at the monster before him. "Augmented Black Lightning!"

The creature backed away with every hit, grunting in pain. Its footsteps shook the earth, but the Tengu refused to stop casting.

The Tengu shrieked "Black Lightning," over and over again, launching bolt after bolt at the monster. I quickly lost count of how many times the Tengu fired that spell.

The iguana's groaning became hoarse and stopped, its limbs became limp and it finally fell to the ground, shaking the earth.

The Tengu stood there, panting as residual magic energy crackled through his body.

The monster bellowed again but this time it was too weak to shake the earth beneath my feet. The creature's body contorted, its open wounds pulled the surface together, closing them. The embedded weapons fell out as flesh filled the empty holes, and flesh that was missing altogether started to regenerate. The frost giant's body in turn shrank as if it couldn't just conjure new body parts into existence.

Once the bellowing stopped, the iguana's size was much smaller; although it was still a colossus compared to the mountain youkai before it, it wasn't even a dozen meters in height. But unlike before, it no longer was covered in cuts, bite marks and stab holes.

"Oh Hell," the Tengu shouted before he started fired another black colored lightning bolt at the monster. I saw the iguana already flying to the side with the lightning bolt flying past it.

The beast landed and immediately charged. With its smaller size, its movement was unhindered by weight and friction. The creature bashed its skull into the Tengu, causing the smaller youkai to fly off its feet and land against a rock with a sickening crack.

I could see that the Mountain Youkai was in agony. But he didn't stop, scrambling to his feet. But the frost giant was already upon him. As it lifted its muscled arm, I steeled myself for the Tengu's inevitable defeat. The giant swung its clawed hand down on him.

The Tengu drew his scimitar and struck the iguana's hand. The impact stopped the colossus' claw. The lizard growled as it tried to push its weight down onto the mountain youkai.

"RAARGH!" the Tengu yelled he pushed the ice monster's hand back, shoving it off. The giant swung its claw down at an angle in retaliation. The Tengu sheathed his sword as he dashed forward, stopping when his open arms caught the beast's arm below its wrist, stopping it. He dug his feet into the ground against the larger monster's force.

The Tengu twisted his body, lifting the frost giant off its feet and into the air. The Tengu spun, and the monster went flying.

The Tengu made an invisible explosion as he flung himself into the air faster than I could see. He appeared on the creature's forearm as two scimitars materialized in his hands. The mountain youkai ran up the arm, swinging the swords down into the monster's flesh as he did. The arm fell apart in midair as the Tengu sliced clean through it. The Tengu leaped at the shoulder as the monster opened it tooth filled mouth again. The rainbow laser fired straight into the air, missing the Tengu whose two scimitars shattered. As the Tengu fell, he drew the sheathed scimitar and swung down, cleaving the giant's second arm clean off.

One severed arm, the multitude of the other arm's pieces, and the body of the monster itself all fell to the earth, shaking it as they landed. The Tengu landed on the ground, tumbling like a limp corpse. In spite of his new intimate relationship with the ground, he was still breathing.

Holy shit, he actually won! There have been youkai I've killed that could recover their lost abilities when they successfully put enough distance between themselves and me. The prime example was the satori, he took roughly the same amount of time before he recovered his strength. His mind abilities followed after. But since when were Tengu this powerful? When I heard he defeated a demon army and a team of powerful youkai, I assumed that that the differences in power between youkai weren't that great. But this...

I needed to capture this youkai immediately, or kill it if that wasn't possible.

"It was over here!" a woman's voice shouted.

"I see it!"

I turned and saw two women flying into the scene.

The first one had green hair, a shapely body and large bust, and was wearing blue and white Shrine Maiden attire. She was likely Sanae Kochiya, the priestess living on top of Youkai Mountain. The second had blond hair, a slender body, and wore a pointed mushroom-like hat along with black and white attire. She was probably Marisa Kirisame, human magician from the Forest of Magic.

"No! The Kaiju is already dead!" the living goddess shouted in horror.

The blond woman looked upon the unconscious monster before speaking. "Already done in, eh?"

"Indeed, it was," said a third woman who appeared out of thin air. This one was tall and shapely, had medium silver hair, and wore a dark blue leg baring outfit with a white apron. I recall seeing her shopping in the village on occasion. Hieda no Akyuu's book says she's a human maid named Sakuya Izayoi.

"Ah, Miss Maid," Kirisame said. "Are you the one who put this thing down?"

"No," Izayoi said as she shook her head. "As easy as the task would have been, I didn't need to lift a finger."

"Then who killed the Kaiju?" the priestess demanded, she looked angry enough to fight the creature herself.

"It was thanks to that aesthetically challenged pervert," the maid said, pointing at the Tengu as he slowly got to his feet and sheathed his sword. The two other women looked to him.

"Mr. Ito?" the priestess asked. She ran to him and grabbed his collar. "Mr. Ito, how could you!? That was a real Kaiju! I've wanted to see one for years! Why did you have to kill it!?"

"Self-defense," he said monotonously. The living goddess gritted her teeth but her grip loosened on his collar in response. The ordinary magician, however, smiled.

"Huh, so you're badass enough to bring down that mountain of a beast?" Kirisame asked as she approached the Tengu. "I came all this way because I heard there was a beast that not even the full power of the Yakumo could stop; but if you had beaten it, then maybe beating you will be an even bigger accomplishment."

They didn't see the condition the lizard was in when it fought the Tengu. I suspect that it was in comparatively weak condition to when it fought the youkai of boundaries.

"So," Kirisame asked with a wide grin, "You ready to fight, doggy?"

When you called wolf youkai 'doggy,' they usually took that as an insult that demanded immediate and severe retribution. However, I could see the fear in the Tengu's body movement. He spun around and took to the air and flew off faster than I could shout "Crow Tengu." Seeing as how quickly he recovered from being a limp body, I'm surprised the Tengu had to serve under the Oni back in the days before the Hakurei Border.

Regardless, there went my chance at killing the bastard.

The moment the Tengu was gone, something appeared in mid-air, a darkness filled tear of some sort. Even with the distance between me and the tear, I could see soul piercing eyes staring out of it.

"Ah, you three, did you defeat this monster?" The voice coming from the tear was feminine, but somehow it felt like I was looking at something I shouldn't have been, like I was becoming gradually nauseous the longer my eyes laid upon it.

Yukari Yakumo!

"I wanted to have a fight with it," the human magician said. "But by the time I got here, an ugly mutt put it down."

"Stop calling him that!" the green haired shrine maiden ordered. "Mr. Ito isn't ugly."

The two other women present gave her and each other quizzical glances before the she-youkai resumed speaking.

"I see. What matters is that it was stopped before it went out of control." Another one of the tears opened up underneath the iguana, large enough for it to fit.

"Wait, where are you sending it?" Sanae asked. "This is the first time a Kaiju has appeared in Gensokyo. You can't just take it away, even if it is dead! We can still bring it back to life with the right technology... maybe."

"This thing isn't dead. I'm sending it to the outside world and far away. Perhaps a desert or an island in the Pacific. I'd hate to think what would have happened if you girls and this 'ugly mutt' hadn't shown up to stop it."

"B-b-b-but, the Kaiju! It needs to be in Gensokyo! I'll even take of it myself!" The woman from the outside wouldn't let it slide. But the other two women and Yakumo didn't care as they dispersed from the gathering. The creature and its arms fell through before the tear closed. The shrine maiden screamed. "No!"

"I've wasted enough time here. I could have been experimenting," Marisa Kirisame said as she hopped on her broom.

"I concur. I even left the fairies to their own devices," the maid added before disappearing.

"Fighting that thing was so tiring... I need a nap," Yakumo said as the tear she was speaking through closed. Now that she was gone, my stomach stopped hurting.

This left the shrine maiden who grumbled before she flew off. With the monstrosity out of Gensokyo, there was nothing left to distract me from my mission. That said, my understanding of the situation has changed. The compass was designed to point in Gary Stewart's direction. Now it was moving, so if the Tengu didn't lie when he told me that the outsider was killed then that meant that Mister Stewart was either undead or his body was being moved by another party.

"You there!" yelled a feminine voice.

I looked up into the air and saw a woman whose appearance I recognized. She wore a red and white Shrine Maiden attire that exposed her arm pits, had brown hair and a moderate build, and was armed with a gohei.

I remember back when the three new religious factions so rudely gathered in the Human Village and met at the Hieda residence, we of the village hired her to drive them out. Reimu Hakurei.

"I demand to know what's going on, Sin... sack?" She must have come up with that name based on the mask I was wearing.

"Venerable Shrine Maiden," I said with a nod. "I prayed that you'd show up."

That was a lie of course, but an idea occurred to me, one that could save this mission. I checked to make sure that I had enough money on me. After all, there was still a youkai who needed to be exterminated.


End file.
